First day of school 2012

A middle-schooler and two 4th graders

I'm probably more nervous today than any other first day of school -- ever. My baby boy goes to middle school today. MIDDLE SCHOOL! It doesn't seem possible. I wasn't this sad or scared when he started kindergarten and neither was he. I'm putting on a strong, happy face for him and praying like crazy. It will all work out, I know, but faith is a frightening exercise sometimes.

Note: I actually wrote this post on Monday. I'm just getting the pics off my phone and onto my computer. At least I'm doing it, right?

Much Love,
J 

Happy Birthday (baby) Boy!

Like most Americans, July 4th is an important holiday in this house; however, it's more than celebrating our country's independence that makes it such a special day. You see, on July 4, 2001, K and I graduated from man and wife to mommy and daddy.

Buckled up and ready to see Rose Towers crumble!

Fireworks and Yankee Doodle took on a whole new meaning for us. This year we celebrated our sweet boy's 11th birthday. This parenting thing has been quite a ride and it's not over yet!

The only bad thing about a holiday birthday is that it's nigh-on impossible to have friends over for a party on your actual birthday. Holdyn has enjoyed ten blow-out birthday extravaganzas complete with family, swimming, and fireworks, but he's never had (in his words) a "real birthday." This year we did things a little differently. As any normal, red-blooded American boy would wish, Holdyn's birthday began with a bang, literally, as we watched the implosion of an old dorm on the UA campus. That was a cool experience! I've never witnessed a building implosion in-person. I'll post the footage later as it's on K's phone, not mine. The implosion was over by 8:10a and it was already hotter than the seventh level of hell, so we headed home to nap in air-conditioned comfort. The rest of the day was filled with video games, movies, cookie cake, and laziness as requested by the birthday boy. He even asked for "birthday alone time" and stayed home while K, the girls, and I made a quick trip to the mall.

I hope this and all his wishes come true!

Twelve hours after the initial birthday bang, we loaded up and headed to the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater to hear patriotic tunes and see a fireworks spectacular. The TSO provided the music and the fireworks were amazing! Thanks to our dear friend, Diana, and her generous gift of tickets, we were able to sit in comfy seats at the amphitheater to watch the show. It was the first time in about three years that we'd been to a large fireworks show and we loved it! By the time we got home we were beat. It's surprising how draining a lazy day can be! ;)

All in all, I'd say the boy had a good birthday and it's not over yet. Saturday a few of his friends are coming over for a video game-a-thon. (His dream come true!)

So, happy birthday to my Holdy-boy! I hope your day was filled with family, friends, and fun, too.

Much Love, J

Summer goings-on

Whew! These past few weeks have been busy. First, we had a fun family get together for my nephew Isaak's baptism. All my sisters and their children came home, which doesn't usually happen. It was really nice to celebrate such a special day all together.

The birthday boy blows out his candles!

After Isaak's birthday I took a little trip to Boston. It was my first time in that beautiful city and the first time in years that I've traveled alone. It was exhilarating and nerve-wracking! I was there to meet with the great people at Bedford/St. Martin's publishing company. They honored me by choosing me as a member of their 2012 Teaching Assistant Advisory Board. Only ten TAs are chosen from across the country to be on the board. It was an amazing two days of meeting with some really smart folks to talk about teaching and publishing. I got just a little time to walk around downtown Boston. I visited the public library, the Christian Science plaza, and the Copley mall. It was a quick trip, but I was exhausted and bad weather left me stranded overnight in Washington DC. I was so happy to bet home!

The fountain at the Christian Science Plaza. I met the nicest people here!

 Last week, we welcomed a few cousins for a visit. The Archibalds came to stay for a few days while my sister  and her husband looked for a new home in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. It was quite an experience mothering seven kids ages 10-1. I gained a whole new respect for mom's of large families and I reaffirmed my belief that I am done having babies. Done, I tell you! We had a great time with Bliss, Zade, Isla, and Kipp. I'll miss them terribly when they move up North! I hope we can make their visit with us an annual event.

The Cousin Crew (l-r) Holdyn, Evie, Kipp, Isla, Kallie, Bliss, and Zade

We took the cousins to meet their parents at Mama Ford and Grandfather's house on Saturday. My sister Lacy and her husband David were there, too. Long-time friends Rachel and Jeni came by with their kids for a dip in the pool and lunch. It was quite the day with smiles and hugs all-round!

Today, after two weeks, we're back to a lazy summer schedule. I'm glad! Busy-ness is fun and exciting, but I like low-key hangout at the house days, too.

I hope you're having as much fun this summer as I am!

Much Love, J

Workouts, groceries, and sharing

Yikes! Somehow I missed posting about our Monday happenings. Mostly we continued our lazy weekend right on into Monday. Holdyn was still feeling less than 100%, so he stayed home while the girls and I made a mid-day trip to the pool. We followed that up with an afternoon nap and early evening lawn work. K and I were aiming to head to the gym on Monday night, but, I tell you, if I can't go to the gym first thing in the morning it seems like forces plot against me to keep me away all together!

Yesterday was more productive. We hit the gym early (5:30-6:30), and it was great! I've added a little weight training to my cardio and I'm feeling stronger (and sore!). Later in the morning the kids and I went grocery shopping. I'm trying to overcome my "under-spending" tendencies which I've determined add more stress to what I consider an already stressful chore. Allow me to explain. I'm not a shopper in the first place and grocery shopping is (to me) the worst kind of shopping there is. It stresses me out. Add to that my tendencies to under buy, wait until the last possible minute (or later) to shop, and try to cram two weeks worth of shopping into one trip...it's not a pretty picture. So, in an effort to be more mindful I've decided to shop every week. I know, it seems counter-intuitive to shop more frequently, but really its proving to be much less stressful. My lists are shorter, my bill is smaller, my trips are quicker -- yay!

Holdyn was excited to spend his lawn mowing earnings. He's been hired by our neighbor to mow their front yard whenever he mows ours and he earns $10 each time. For a 10-20 minute chore that's a pretty great pay scale, score!

I had a meeting with a colleague about a review essay we're writing and then the kids and I capped yesterday off with a late afternoon swim.

Last night was our first official "Family Movie Night" and we watched the first disc of The Fellowship of the Ring. K and I love the movies based on the JRR Tolkien trilogy and the kids have never seen them. I think the first disc was a hit! It's it fun to share your favorite things with loved ones? It's especially nice when your loved ones like your favorite things, too!

What are you sharing this summer?

Much Love,
J

Day 3 - Cousin fun

Too much excitement for one sentence today . . . My sister Sara is in town for a few days, so today after my run (week 7 day 2 of C25k) we met her and the Archibald cousins at the UA Rec pool for swim time. Her in-laws Breesa, Chief, Serene and Breesa's baby Liv joined us. K enjoyed a nice day off with a good workout and time at the pool, too. Fun! Tonight Sara and I had some sister time shopping in Birmingham at (among other places) World Market -- my most favorite store in the universe! It was a busy and fun day, just like summer should be.

Much Love,
J

Day 2

Boats on the Black Warrior. I thought these were tug boats, but they are dredgers.

Yesterday the kids and I rode the Riverwalk trail (5 miles!), K was invited to play softball with some friends from church (they won, by forfeit), and my sister Sara and her kiddos came to town (yay, cousins!).

Much Love,
J

One-sentence, Day 1

So, I'm going to need more than one sentence. Just be warned I will break the one-sentnece rule, often!

Holdyn earned his Compass points badge, one compass-point, and three other activities pins at scouts last night.

Evie finished Bud, Not Buddy, which has 19 chapters.

Kallie and Evie are practicing roller-blading and getting pretty good at it.

I'm trying to convince K to join me jogging because I'll need a new exercise partner come August.

Much Love,
J

Beginnings -- Summer

Yesterday was the "real" first day of summer break for us. I've been out of school since early May and the kids finished up on May 23, but with two days of room cleaning, a busy weekend, and Memorial Day, yesterday was our first, do-nothing day of summer.

Hopefully, I can convince him to spend a lot of time like this over the summer!

We're reading, playing Uno, and trying not to spend too much time watching TV and playing video games (Holdyn). I've made a schedule. We stuck to it yesterday and I blew it this morning, by sleeping waaaay too late, of course.

I've been reading Gretchen Rubin's memoir, The Happiness Project. I really like it and have found some habits I'd like to cultivate. Foremost of those is keeping a one-sentence daily journal. I already keep a sort of Commonplace book or junk journal filled with to-dos, quotes, ideas, musings, scattered thoughts, whatever. But, I'd like to record our days and be better about keeping this blog, so maybe a one-sentence journal style will work.

My resolutions from New Years have been hit or miss successes. Hits -- I have kept up with exercising and I'm pumped about that! My friend, Mallory, and I have just about finished couch to 5k and are scheduled to run in the Color Run on Labor Day in Birmingham. I'd planned to run a 5k BEFORE my 35th birthday last year, but it didn't happen. The Color Run is Sept. 3, so I'll at least run a 5k DURING my 35th year. Revision is a great thing, no? Misses -- I have not been faithful in writing everyday and the take a photo a day project fizzled after about a week. To be fair, I write A LOT. It just doesn't happen everyday. I'm ok with that right now, but once I begin my dissertation that will need to change. Thankfully, a friend gave me the book Write Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day. It will be a huge help when the time arrives. As for the photo project, I have no excuse except I guess I wasn't as interested as I thought I'd be. I'll try it again sometime, though.

Well, that's a VERY brief update. And I've left out a ton, beach trip, trip to Nashville, 5th grade graduation, end of the year awards, Memorial Day with the family.

Tomorrow...summer continues and the one-sentence journal begins!

Much Love,
J

To Kallie

February 22, 2012

Dear Mrs. T’s 3^rd grade class,

I’d like to tell you a little bit about Kallie. First, you probably already know that Kallie has an identical twin sister name Evie. What you may not know is that Kallie and Evie were born two months early and weighed just over four pounds each. Kallie was born 5 minutes after Evie, so technically she’s the baby of our family. I think she likes that because she frequently reminds us that she’s our baby.

If you know Kallie then you know that she is a really sweet girl and tries to do things to help others. Kallie also loves animals and wants to become a veterinarian when she grows up. Giraffes are her favorite animal and she has a huge collection. At least 10 stuffed animals and several statues. But, what Kallie really wants is her very own, real, live giraffe.  She’s even made me promise that if we ever move to Africa that we’ll buy a pet giraffe!

Kallie likes school, reading, and soccer. She likes to ride her bike and play with her brother and sister. She’s very helpful and she gives great hugs. I really love her, and I’m glad she’s mine!

I could write pages and pages about how great Kallie is, but I don’t have to tell you – you already know her. Thanks for letting me tell you just a few things about my special Kallie!

Sincerely,

Jennie Vaughn (Kallie’s mommy)

A self portrait of my "baby" girl

This week Kallie was chosen to be "Star Student." She got to do something special each day this week and on Wednesday special thing was have a letter about her read to the class. I enjoyed writing the letter about my girl. I don't often take the chance to just sit and think and write about what makes each of our three special. It was a really special experience. I decided to publish Kallie's letter here, and I want to write one for Holdyn and Evie, too.

What things do you do to make your sweeties feel special? Do you find that writing can help you refocus your priorities or rekindle your emotions?

Much Love, J 

Valentine's Round-up

I do enjoy crafting. Really, I do! I just don't get to do them that often. Usually, I save up crafts for when school's out, but then acting as chief cat herder is so exhausting that I never enjoy our craft projects. But somehow, this Valentine's day was different. I don't know if it was because I organized myself (via Pinterest), had most supplies on hand, or just got shot by cupid's arrow, but we had a regular crafting sweat shop here on Monday afternoon. Here's what we made:

All the fifth grade padawan's got light sabers.

The third graders got fortune tellers,

or cootie catchers, whatever they're called.

The teachers got "diamond" rings,

and so did my friends.

Then on the big morning the girls sported heart pigtails. Thank you Pinterest and all you crafty folks out there for making our Valentine's day cheery and crafty! (PS All this V-day craftiness cost less than $10.)

Much Love, J

One year later...

Yikes! A whole year since I've updated this blog?! It doesn't seem possible. 2011 literally flew by! We moved "to town" last December (thus the name change) and have thrown ourselves into life here in Tuscaloosa. The kids started the new/old year at a new school and have thrived. I spent the year teaching Freshmen, bless them, studying, reading, and writing my brains out. K spent his days driving back and forth to work in Birmingham, watching Alabama football, and generally being the most awesome hubs and daddy around! In short, it was a fantastic year of busy-ness and blessings. The Country-turned-City Vaughns are doing alright and looking forward to 2012. The silliness, happiness, and craziness will continue (the yuckiness, tears, and heartaches will too) and maybe this space won't be so neglected this year. 

Much Love, 
J

Some days I wonder...

Some days I wonder what's harder, being a kid or being a mom? This week, I'm definitely choosing mom. Although, I'm having a hard time because of the hard time one of my kids is having. Does any of this make sense? Probably not. It barely makes sense to me! Anyway, I found this video clip about motherhood and through my sobs the words of Jeffery R. Holland brought peace to my soul. I wanted to share it with you; maybe it can help you, too.

Much Love,

--J

Phones

I got an iphone this week.  I know, fancy, right!  Anyway, that's not really what this post is about.  While setting up the phone (does anyone else find the process of choosing ringtones annoying?) the kids came in and wanted to hear the ringtone.  I'd chosen the tone called "old phone," it sounds like...duh...an old phone circa 1950-80 ringing.  So I played the ringtone and all 3 kids laughed and said, "What's that supposed to be?"

WHAT?!

That's when I realized they have never heard a phone with a bell ringer!  I shouldn't be surprised because we've not had a "landline" in all the time they can remember.  But still, it's a shock to the system to be reminded of how much things have changed just within my lifetime.  Both sets of my grandparents had those heavy, black rotary dial phones.  In fact, until I was a teenager my Granny had a "party line."  The old lady who shared the line was ALWAYS on the phone!  Could you imagine that today?  It's not like this is ancient history we're talking about; I'm not THAT old.  (Shut it!  I hear that snorting and snickering!)

My children have never lived without cellphones, video games, satellite TV and the Internet.  They are very savvy, not only technologically so but also environmentally and gastronomically.  They remind ME to turn off lights and not to run the water when I brush my teeth.  They sigh and shake their heads whenever they see people clearing land and cutting down trees.  They question the origin of their hamburgers' beef and want to know if their fruit is organic.  I'm amazed at their sophistication -- I did not teach them a lot of this stuff -- they are just products of their era.

Of course, they are still kids (thankfully).  They ride bikes, play outside, run in the house, and jump on the furniture.  At the same time I marvel at the differences in our childhoods, I smile at the similarities.  It all makes me wonder...what will they live through?  What will their children never live with and without?

Much Love,
- J

PS -- I'm not daft, I know this is not a perfect time we're living in, but I know there is more good than evil.  I would drown in fear if I thought about all the chaos, hate, and danger prowling today.  You can say what you will, but I choose to focus on the positive in the hopes that I can increase the amount of good, beauty, and love in the world.

Big Girls Now

Posting two days in a row?!  Shocking, I know.  But there's been some big time events the past few days and I'd be remiss if I didn't document them.  Last week, on the first day of school, my two sweet baby girls turned SEVEN.  I cannot believe they are seven years old!  We had a little pool party on Saturday complete with pink elephant cupcakes and a giraffe mini-cake.  Evie loves elephants and Kallie is my giraffe girl.  We had a great time with friends and family.  The girls got new bikes and some other great things, but they were most excited about this.....

Yep, my two babies got their ears pierced yesterday.  Now I've got two big girls complete with bejeweled ears.  There were a few tears (from them) and a little doubt (from all of us).  In the end, however, they are happy and I'm excited, too!
As my sisters can attest, this ritual was a big deal in our house growing up.  We had to wait until we were 10 to get earrings, but it meant we were big girls.  And they are big girls - sweet, kind, and helpful.  I love those two!

Evie didn't want me to take her picture just after the piercing.  She asked me to wait, "Until my face isn't so red and puffy from crying."  Seriously.  We are definitely raising a priss here!  Kallie wanted to choose skull studs.  "Ooooo, these are cool!", she said.  I convinced her to pick gold hearts with crystals in the middle.  Hint - She is NOT the priss we are raising.  Holdyn's only comment after the piercings was, "I'm glad I'm not a girl!"  This will not be the last time in his life he thinks that, I'm sure.

It's as crazy here as ever!

WOW!

That's all I can say!  I stumbled across this awesome, inspiring blog last week.  Gayle is the mom of four kids and she (along with her husband) eat each week on a grocery budget of $60.  That's right, $60 a week for a family of 6 (including at least one teenage boy)!!!  That also includes toiletries but not make-up, clothes, etc.  Also, they only spend $40 per week on gas ($20/2cars).  They do have a garden and she homeschools the kids.  However, judging by our food consumption this summer that may not be a budget helper!  Perhaps my favorite thing about Gayle's plan is that she doesn't use coupons -- that's right NO COUPONS!  Considering that I absolutely loathe coupons, this chick immediately won my favor.

We used to have a much tighter grocery budget, but lately we've gotten a little lax.  I'm ready to tighten the reins; thankfully not because we HAVE to, but just to be more responsible.  We are wasting a lot and we know better!!  That extra cash could be used to pay off some debt and boost our savings.  I'm not sure I want to immediately cut back to $60 per week, but I'm really considering $80.  We'll see.

So, not to be nosy, but I'm wondering what do you spend each week on groceries?  What about clothes, shoes, gas, etc?  Just wondering...

Much Love,

--J

As Corny as Kansas in August

--

We shucked, cleaned, and prepped the corn and ended up with 35 ears and a bunch of creamed corn. However, I thought this photo best depicted the magnitude of the job. My helpers did all the shucking (and jiving?) while I washed, trimmed, blanched and bagged. Although I had more individual tasks our workload was about even. I'm proud of my little workers.

Here's to hoping your summer is corny, too!

Much Love,
--J

Walk Like an Egyptian

The kids have been going to vacation Bible school at a nearby church this week.  They've had a great time learning about the Israelites in Egypt.  I've enjoyed the three hour study sessions (comps are today).  I've always wondered why we LDS folks don't have VBS, but I'm not asking for another calling or assignment, so I've kept my wondering to myself. ;) Today is the last day of VBS and the kids were told to dress like any Egyptian or Bible figure they've studied.  Here's what I dropped off this morning --

Yikes! (That's a mummy, Miriam hold baby Moses, and Pharaoh in case you can't tell.)

Much Love,
--J

De-Greasing Update

The girls' hair is back to normal today. I got tons of help from family and friends and I ended up using Dawn dish liquid to rewash their hair. It worked wonderfully! Now their cute strawberry blond hair is back and we're keeping the Greaser look in the 1950's where it belongs.

Much Love,
-J

News

The Country Vaughns got some big news this week. I've been accepted into the PhD program in Composition and Rhetoric at the University of Alabama. We are super excited at what all this entails! I've been offered a graduate assistantship as well, which means a move is required. In the next few months the Country Vaughns will be in full renovation completion mode so that we can get Vaughn Farms on the market and hopefully (fingers and toes crossed)sold. That's right, the plan is to bid farewell to this little piece of land and move the country mice to the city.

The kids are excited at the idea of living "in town" where they can ride bikes, play sports, and possibly (gasp) walk places!

For now, we're enjoying little league basketball season, my student teaching (I LOVE IT!!!), and just being together.

So, we'll see what happens over the next 6 months. It should be exciting, stay tuned!

"Snow" Day

We're home for a "Snow" day today. I use the quotation marks because there isn't a lick of snow to be seen. We got out of school at 11a yesterday as the fat, fluffy flakes swirled through the frigid air. The kids were so excited to get home to "make snow angels, snowmen, and have a snowball fight" they said. I wanted to get home, pull on some fleece pants and socks and campout on the couch. Well, we all got our wishes, sort of. The snow didn't stick but it did accumulate (slightly) on some things like the steps, the picnic table and the trampoline. This allowed for enough of a thin layer of dust for snow angels and snowballs about the size of a gumball. =)





Overall, I dislike the cold, dreary weather and I'm thankful that I live in a place where it is a rare occurance. School was cancelled for today, too. Now we're snuggled in for the weekend and enjoying our snowless "Snow" day.

Much Love
the Country Vaughns